Nail



Patented Feb. 29, 1944 NAIL William A. Wisckol, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Douglas & Lomason (30., Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application September 17, 1942, Serial No. 458,690

8' Claims.

This invention relates to nails, sometimes termed alpine nails, adapted to be attached to the soles of shoes or boots used in mountain or glacial regions, an object of the invention being to provide an improved device of this character adapted to be readily and economically formed stamping and/or punch press operations from a single metal blank.

A further object of the invention is to provide a nail or spike attachable directly to the edge of a boot or shoe sole and having a jagged projection or cleat lanced or struck out from the metal thereof and positioned to provide a downwardly extending claw near the marginal edge of the sole.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nail attachable to a shoe or boot and of U-shape or channel formation to embrace the edge of the sole and having a depending claw or cleat struck out from the metal of the base of the device, the preferred construction being such that the claw is formed with converging side edges, a saw-tooth bottom edge and is curved in crosssection on a radius materially shorter than that of the edge of the shoe.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mountain or alpine shoe nail of improved construction stamped from sheet metal and having improved gripping qualities when mounted, along with other similar devices, on the edge of a boot or shoe.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a shoe having mounted on the sole thereof a series of nails made in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken substantially through lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a View in elevation of the nail.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carriedout in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

In the drawing there is illustrated a present preferred form of a nail generally designated at A, constructed in accordance with the pres ent invention. The nailv is preferably formed from relatively heavy gauge sheet steel and is designed for attachment to theedge of the sole C of a mountain boot or shoe B.

The nail is blanked ou't' from the stock. and pressed to provide a vertical web l0 terminating in a top inwardlyextending flange II and a bottom flange l2 parallel to the top flange. The device is thus generally U-shaped or channel shaped in vertical section so as to, embrace snugly the edge of the boot sole C. The top flange is much shorter than the bottom flange and in eflect is in'the form of two co-planar ears, see Fig. 4. .1 I v The bottom flange I2 is generallytriangular in shape and extends well under the sole as shown in Fig. 2. Lanced or punched out of the metal of the bottom' flange l2 at' I3 is a downwardly extending claw or cleat l4 provided with a jagged or saw-tooth edge. As clearly seen in Fig. 5, the front and rear edges of the aperture I3, produced by punching out the claw, are curved and accordingly the claw I4 is curved in cross-section. Although the flange l0, which engages the side edge of the sole 0, may preferably have some cross-sectional curvature in order to fit snugly the sole, yet it is preferred that the cross-sectional curvature of the claw be somewhat greater so as not to parallel the edge of the sole but instead to project inwardly at an angle thereto.

As illustrated in Fig. l, a series of devices A are mounted around the edge of the sole C of the boot at suitably spaced intervals. Each device is fitted over the edge of the sole as shown in Fig. 2 with the claw extending downwardly from a point somewhat inwardly of the marginal edge of the sole. The flange II is pierced to provide holes l5 for the reception of brads or other fastening elements 11. The bottom flange I2 is also pierced to provide a hole It for the reception of a screw or other suitable fastening element IS. The fastening elements are driven into the boot sole, thus anchoring the device A solidly in position. Thus, with a series of jagged or toothed claws or cleats l4 extending around the edge of the sole and each of concavo-convex shape, it will be seen that an improved mountain boot or shoe having sufiicient gripping or anti-skid qualities on icy or slippery surfaces is provided by virtue of the present invention.

I claim:

1. An anti-skid boot or shoe nail formed from a single metal blank comprising a generally U- shaped body adapted to embrace the edge of the sole, the bottom portion of the body engaging the bottom ofthe sole, and a downwardly extending claw pierced from the metal of said bottom portion.

2 An anti-skid boot or shoe nail formed from a single metal blank comprising a generally U- shaped body adapted to embrace the edge of the sole, the bottom portion of thebody engaging the bottom of the sole, and a downwardly ex-- tending claw formed from an interior part of the metal of said bottom portion and curved in crosssection.

3. An anti-skid boot or shoe nail comprising a channel-shaped body pressed from a single metal blank to provide a web engageable with the side edge of the boot sole and terminating in spaced upper and lower flanges engageable with the top and bottom edge portions'of the sole, said bottom flange having an aperture, and a depending claw formed from the metal derived in the formation of said aperture.

4. An' anti-skid boot or shoe nail comprising a channel-shaped body pressed from a single metal blank to provide a web engageable with the side edge of the boot sole and terminating in spaced upper and lower flanges engageablewith the top and bottom edge portions of the sole, and a'dependin'g claw formed from an interior part of the metal or. the bottom flange and disposed inwardly of said web.

5. An anti-skid boot or shoe nail'comprising a channel-shaped body pressed from a single metal blank toprovide a web engageable with the side edge of the boot sole and terminating in spaced upper and lower flanges engageable with the top and bottom edge portions'of the sole, and a concave-convex depending claw formed from an interior part of the metal of the bottom flange.

6. An anti-skid boot or shoe nail comprising a channel-shaped 'body pressed from a single metal blank to provide a web engageable with the side edge of the boot sole and terminating in spaced upper and lower flanges engageable with the top and bottom edge portions of the sole, and a depending claw formed by piercing the bottom flange and provided with a curved lower jagged edge.

'7. An anti-skid boot or shoe nail comprising a channel-shaped body pressed from a single metal blankto provide a web adapted to engage the side edge of the boot sole and terminating in a relatively short upper flange and a longer generally triangularly shaped bottom flange,

said flanges extending inwardly to engage the top and bottom surfaces of the sole and being pierced to provide holes for ie reception of fastening elements, and a depending claw formed by piercing of the bottom flange and having a toothed edge lying a substantial distance below the boot sole.

8. An anti-skid boot or shoe nail comprising a channel-shaped body pressed from a single metal blank to provide a concave-convex Web adapted to engage the side edge of the boot sole and terminating in a relatively short upper flange and a longer generally triangularly shaped bottom flange, said flanges extending inwardly to engage the top and bottom surfaces of the sole and being pierced to provide holes for the reception of fastening elements, a depending concave-convex claw struck out from the metal of the bottom flange and having a toothed edge lying a substantial distance below the boot sole'and being formed on a shorter radius than said web.

WILLIAM A. WISCKOL. 

